Mack Strong, always selfless, steps aside for family

By TED MILLER, P-I COLUMNIST

Published 10:00 pm, Monday, October 8, 2007

Mack Strong first landed in Seattle in 1993 with a garbage bag full of shoes because he couldn't yet afford proper luggage. When someone cracked wise about a Hefty sack arriving at baggage claim at Sea-Tac, he flinched with embarrassment and decided to wait a couple more conveyor belt rounds before claiming his assortment of dirty athletic shoes.

As if anyone knew who he was. Strong was an undrafted free agent. And he was a fullback. In other words, he was about as low on the NFL totem poll as a guy gets.

If an angel had whispered into his ear at that moment that he would play 14-plus seasons with distinction, a now-familiar crooked grin would have burst across his face.

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"I'd have been like, 'You're nuts,' " he said.

That drew a laugh from a crowd of reporters on Monday, which was nice because more than a few were struggling to maintain their professional distance as Strong, fighting through tears, announced his retirement because of a neck injury suffered Sunday in Pittsburgh.

The pain, the tingling, the numbness -- all the way to his feet -- was something different, something he'd never felt before after experiencing thousands of reverberating collisions without his body protesting.

What had a day before been called "a stinger" -- euphemistically at that -- was now a herniated disc that had pinched his spinal cord.

It was, in two, simple, difficult words, "The End." At least of a football career worthy of special note.

"There's a lot more to life than football -- I've got a wife and two kids," Strong said.

At that moment, his words created an image inside his head that made him, the toughest of men, briefly break down. The blurred details of a transformative event moving at life speed were becoming clear.

And it hurt.

After about 20 beats, he continued, "And there's nothing more important than being able to spend time with them. If I hadn't been able to walk off that field ..."

He quickly let that disturbing notion go, then continued, "To me it's a no-brainer. I've given every ounce inside of me to football."

Another emotional pause: "I have no regrets."

He shouldn't.

How do you measure a man?

He has his family, his work, his core beliefs and how he engages the world and treats others. On any of these, you will not find a person claiming Mack Strong falls short.

Mike Holmgren called him a "consummate professional," "a wonderful man" and "much more than a football player."

"He was always thinking about other people and the status of the team before himself," Holmgren said.

How's this for a meaningful coincidence? On the night his football career ended, Strong played lead blocker for his wife, Zoe, who needed to go to the emergency room because of severe headaches. He joked that he got hit so hard that it even made her head hurt.

Strong, 36, worked very hard to make sure Monday's proceedings didn't feel like a eulogy. It was emotional, of course, but he refused to mourn.

He's financially secure. He'd been thinking about retirement for three or so years, in large part because the Seahawks have annually tried to find his replacement.

He's spent significant time planning for life after football. Widely considered one of the Seahawks' most outgoing, articulate players by reporters, Strong quipped that he was also announcing his new availability for broadcasting opportunities.

Call it a cliché of positive thinking, but Strong insisted that this day was as much about a new beginning as an end to a career.

"My best days are ahead of me," he said.

That may be true. No job is more thankless than fullback. Strong has averaged 2.3 touches per game, running and receiving, while leading others to glory.

Moreover, while the popular image is of fullbacks blowing up linebackers, more often than not fullbacks get the worst of those collisions. Their singular goal is to prevent at least one defender from making a tackle, whether they end up on their rear end, their ears ringing or not.

At last, on the day his improbably long career ended, the spotlight was his.

He did, however, say something completely ridiculous.

"(Backup fullback Leonard Weaver) is going to make people forget about Mack Strong around here," he said.

Bull.

Strong was voted into consecutive Pro Bowls after his 13th and 14th seasons. He made Shaun Alexander a superstar. He was a critical component of the greatest season in franchise history when the Seahawks reached their first and only Super Bowl.

He ranks second in Seahawks history with 201 games played. He last missed a game in 1999.

He has been durable and selfless in a town that values blue-collar guys who take pride in doing their job well every day whether anyone notices or not.

But if anyone a few years hence bumps his head, suffers memory loss and needs to be reminded who Mack Strong was, all they'll need to do is look up at Qwest Field.